First Christmas as a family of 4!

This was our first Christmas as a family of 4. Gracie's 1st Christmas was very nice and Caden loved having someone else to play with. It was almost like they got double the toys because they were both interested in what each other got as well as what they got. It was so cute and fun to watch!

My friend, Emily, came over for breakfast Christmas Eve. Collin worked half a day and then as a family we went out to lunch. Christmas Day we spent with my family. Overall we had a wonderful time! I feel like I was the most blessed this year. I have two beautiful children and one on the way. I also got a sewing machine and a serger. There will be lots of fun projects in my future!

This was our first Christmas without Collin's dad being on this earth. That was tough. I really wish his mom lived in our city or was closer but I am so glad she lives close to one of his brothers. 

I hope your family had a wonderful Christmas and has a blessed New Year!

Grace 11 months

Dear Gracie,

You are now 11 months! We are getting close to celebrating your first Christmas and shortly after, your first New Year, and then your first birthday! This year is really going much quicker than I want. 

So many things have happened this past month. You went from being toothless up until you were 8 months old, to now all of the sudden you have a mouth full of teeth! You have 4 front teeth on top and of course 2 front teeth on bottom. 

At about 10.5 months you started walking. Although you still prefer to hold someone's hand because you can walk faster and will still often crawl to get somewhere quicker if you are on a mission! You do, however, enjoy your new skill. You can also climb our stairs and do a great job! Someone is always behind you to make sure you don't fall. 

Sadly, you attended your first funeral when your paternal grandfather passed away. You hung in there for most of it but started getting a little fussy about half-way through. It was a sad but happy day. We are glad Granddad is in Heaven but miss him. We were happy to see lots of family we don't get to see as often, including NeNe. You also met many of your older cousins. 

You are getting great at eating. You LOVE feeding yourself. In fact, we have struggled trying to feed you but you are Miss. Independent when it comes to eating. On the bright side, you are doing well with solids and you seem to really love meat. Last night we ate fish and you gobbled it up. Today we had brisket for lunch and roast and green beans for dinner. You loved it!

You mostly still take one nap a day for about an hour. If we go somewhere in the evening you'll fall asleep in the car and it throws your bedtime off. Typically you sleep from about 7pm  to 7:30am-8:30am. I usually nurse you before bed, then right before I go to bed, then around 6 something in the morning when you wake up. You nurse about 3 more times during the day. 

You love talking and dancing. Most of the time if you can't say a word you'll point and say, "bah." Some of the more common words you use are, "mom, dad, brother, ball, and bye." When you hear music playing, you start dancing. It's so fun to watch you!

You love being carried and held. You love to be read to and played with. I love watching you and Caden play together. He's so sweet to you and your eyes light up with delight when you two play. You also want to draw and basically do what ever Caden is doing. When he's doing his schoolwork, you try and take his pencil. Often, if he's really focused on what he's doing, you will take it from him. You have also taken a crayon and tried to color on his work. I have given you your own and you seem to like that.

I let you try some eggs the other day. I made banana, egg, and oatmeal pancakes. You had an allergic reaction to the eggs, as the eggs were your new food. The area around your mouth swelled up and turned red. We watched you closely and thankfully it eventually calmed down. Now we know to be extra careful and will avoid eggs for a while.

You have seen a few Santa Clauses, you are not impressed at all. Although you really like the Elf on the Shelf, in which we named Jimmy, after your paternal Granddad, Jim. We took you to see the play, "Santa is Coming to Town," at Casa and you really just wanted to get down and walk around. You have your own ideas of fun and most involve staying active and walking.

You are fascinated with animals and you love animal books. You also love other small kids and enjoy waving and smiling to people when we're out, just like your brother did and sometimes still does. However, with all your friendliness, if they dare try and hold you or something like that, you will cry and look at me. You are friendly at a safe distance. Which I'm happy about.

Praise God, you still have never been sick. Not even a runny nose! And you are building your immunity as we let you crawl and play in public places that we would not have let your brother. You are a happy, sweet, adorable, and precious girl! God has truly blessed us!

Love,
Mom

P.S. Our computer is down. I have better pictures from her 11 months coming with our nice camera. Until then, here are a few pictures I took with my phone.

You grabbed the bread at Spaghetti Warehouse

At Casa Manana

At Casa

Rash from eating eggs

Rash from eating eggs

Christmas Update

Dear Family and Friends

We cannot believe how quickly 2014 has gone by. This year has been wonderful and yet also sad. The good news first. I gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl in January. Gracie is such a lovely and perfect addition to our family. Caden is loving being a big brother and is a really great one. He's so kind and mostly gentle. My sister-in-law gave birth to their first child, a beautiful baby girl, Avery, 3.5 months early in March. She's a fighter and we are so glad she's doing so well. My cousin had her first baby, a girl in October. My brother, Drew, married the love of his life in November. 

For the sad news. We lost Collin's dad, Jim, December 1st. We will miss him greatly. Collin spoke at his funeral and did a wonderful job honoring his dad. His dad would have been 89 in January. His parents would have celebrated 62 years of marriage in January as well. He was a godly man whom many looked up to. He is dearly missed.

We also lost our precious great nephew, Declan. He passed away right before birth. Our hearts have been heavy with grief and his parents still question why. His life was too short, like other babies who never took a breath from this earth.

Caden started kindergarten this year and is doing wonderful. We decided to homeschool him. Don't let the term, homeschool, fool you. We keep plenty busy outside of doing schoolwork. He goes to a part-time private school one day a week where he takes science, art, and Spanish. He also takes kindermusik, karate, tennis, and is involved in two co-op groups. In January he will start playing basketball again. We are also part of several homeschool groups that get together for park playdates, field trips, holiday parties, and more. We attend a medium sized church where he has lots of friends as well. We love the flexibility of homeschooling and Caden is thriving academically and socially. He's such a smart, friendly, and outgoing kid. He's never met a stranger. He's also very creative and daily comes up with interesting ideas, art work, and inventions. He also loves gardening and has collected a lot of seeds.

Grace is our precious rainbow baby. She is full of life, laughter, and love. She just started walking and is doing great. Just like Caden, she's very friendly and will wave to people at the grocery store and other places when we're out. She has a sense of humor and loves to laugh. She loves to babble in her own way and is saying several words. We are truly blessed!

Collin is enjoying his job, helps with the children's ministry team at church, we're both on the mission committee, and try and help out in other areas when we can. I've enjoyed helping in Gracie's Sunday school class this Fall. She loves her Bible class and her little friends. We're going to teach Caden's class again starting in March. As a family we have started a nice little garden with herbs and vegetables. We have grown more tomatoes than we eat and hope the kale, beets and carrots turn out well this winter. Caden loves harvesting them. We're all enjoying learning how to grow organic food.

We hope your family is doing well. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Collin, Marisa, Caden, and Grace

We have a little walker

How is it possible my baby is walking?! Yesterday she walked half-way across our living room. Our little 10 month old baby is growing up too fast. She was so proud of herself. After we sat and admired her a little, I decided I should video her. I got her walking a little on my camera phone. I love you, Gracie girl!

German Christmas Market

Yesterday we took Gracie to her first German Christmas market. When we lived in Germany we used to visit as many different ones as we could. They were always so much fun! Last year we had our pictures taken with Santa so we decided to do the same this year. It was extra special because we now have two cute kids to see Santa. Gracie was NOT impressed at all. Caden was fine and told him he wanted a candy cane that lights up and makes sounds when you push a button. After thinking about it a while, I think he is referring to a candy cane we saw at Hobby Lobby. He was happy that Santa gave him a candy cane to eat.

Here are some pictures of us with Santa and at the German Christmas market.

Christmas Traditions

We are really trying to make Jesus the reason for the season of Christmas. Here are some of the things we're going to be doing as a family at home.

25 days of Christmas stories. We've done this the past few years. I wrap 25 Christmas books and everyday my child (now children) get to open a book to read. On December 25th, we read the story of Christ's birth.

We started celebrating Sankt Nikolaus' Day when we lived in Germany. We're adding a little different twist to it now that we're back in America. On December 6th, our children will find their stockings full of Christmas cheer rather than their boots.

We're going to be going through The Jesus Storybook Bible advent-style with our church. Everyday we read a passage from the Bible that leads up to Jesus' birth.

I'm going to read and go through The Donkey in the Living Room, starting December 15th. That's when the kids will find a different piece of the nativity scene in a special place. We'll read about the person and why they are part of Christ's birth.

We'll be doing lots of fun crafts. Today Caden and I made a Christmas countdown chain. We'll be counting down in lots of ways, including with the chocolate advent calendar. 

Have a Polar Express night. Our church has a movie night every year featuring the Polar Express. Since we unfortunately will not be able to make it, we'll watch it at home as a family movie night with Caden after Gracie goes to sleep. Then another night we'll surprise our kids with tickets to go see Christmas lights. I even bought little bells to give them. Originally, I was planning on us riding the train to the north pole but decided to wait until Gracie was a little older.

Lastly, we have added a cute little Elf to our Christmas traditions. He will help guide our children in the Christmas spirit. Everyday he'll be up to something and have with him our daily Bible passages to read. To start with, he left a note for the kids asking for a name and telling them about himself. He's hiding in our Christmas tree. Do you see him?

What are your Christmas traditions?